Navin Kumar Prem Kumar

HIST836 From Great Game to Great Satan

Fall 2012
Professor Abbas Amanat

Final Term Paper

Title

The Fall of the Sikh Empire

Artists impression of the Battle of Ferozeshah, 22nd December 1845

1
 The Sikh Empire was a powerful Indian state that emerged at the end of the 18th century, at a

time when India was tormented both by repeated invasions from Afghanistan and the rapid territorial

expansion of the British East India Company. Under the charismatic leadership of Ranjit Singh, the

Sikhs emerged the most powerful indigenous state on the subcontinent, creating an empire that

lasted half a century. In doing so, they ended the perennial Afghan threat from beyond the Khyber

Pass, inadvertently serving as a useful buffer for Britains Indian holdings. By the 1840s however,

the Sikh state itself became a target of British imperialism as the Company set out to subjugate all of

India to its writ. After two fiercely-contested wars, the valiant Sikhs were defeated and the Punjab

was absorbed into British India. This paper seeks to uncover the reasons for this change in British

policy towards the Sikh Empire, one that heralded the demise of a powerful bulwark against threats

to Britains Indian empire.

The Settings

The rise of the Sikhs can be traced back to the chaotic political milieu of northern India

precipitated by the disintegration of the Mughal Empire in the early 18th century. Though Mughal

power attained its zenith under Emperor Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707), (Refer to Appendix: Map 1) the

seeds of its downfall were also sown during his reign. Though a diligent ruler, Aurangzeb was

fanatical in advancing the cause of Islam in India at the expense of his Hindu subjects. The re-

imposition of the jizya,1 destruction of Hindu temples and other discriminatory practices against non-

Muslims2 through state-issued firmans, 3 undermined the fragile compact4 with their Hindu subjects

1
This tax had been abolished in the reign of Akbar, Aurangzebs great-grandfather as a gesture of conciliation and
goodwill to his Hindu subjects.
2
S.R. Sharma, Mughal Empire in India - A Systematic Study including Source Material (Agra, India: Lakshmi Narain
Agarwal, 1934), [Page 389-390].
3
Aurangzebs fundamentalist interpretation of Islam also applied to his personal life: he dismissed artists, dancers and
musicians from the court, surrounding himself with instead, orthodox ulema and qadis. He even went as far as
prohibiting alcohol and opium sale and consumption across his empire (with dubious success).
4
John Keay, India: A History (New York: Grove Press, 2000), [Page 343-344].

1
the Mughal state depended upon to govern. Soon the Marathas, Rajputs5 and Jats were in rebellion,

forcing Aurangzebs successors to commit vast state resources to quell the uprisings. Capitalizing on

the breakdown of imperial authority, Mughal governors (nizams) across the empire from Bengal to

Hyderabad also began to assert their independence.6 The Marathas in particular, under their wily

leader Shivaji, emerged as the Mughals most tenacious foe. As imperial power faded, the Marathas

replaced them as the preeminent power on the subcontinent. 7

The Sikhs arose in the 15th century as a movement focused on religious and social reform but

after the executions of their 7th and 9th Gurus8 by the Mughals, they increasingly found themselves

victims of imperial persecution. In response, Guru Gobind Singh (Refer to Appendix: Tables)

organized the Sikhs into the Khalsa, a martial brotherhood based on egalitarian, republican

principles and committed them to resist Mughal tyranny and forced conversion to Islam. After his

death,9 his disciple Banda Singh Bahadur took up the mantle of leadership and continued the

struggle but his efforts incurred a fierce imperial backlash. In 1716, the Mughals captured and

executed Banda Singh and scattered the Sikhs, who faded from the political scene temporarily.

The invasion of Nadir Shah Afshar in 1738 saw the destruction of the Mughal army at Karnal

(1739) and the sack of Delhi. Mughal authority was now effectively reduced to just Delhi and its

surrounds.10 Before long, another invader crossed into India in the form of Ahmad Shah Durrani.

The Afghan saw India as an easy source of plunder and undertook eight invasions of the

subcontinent between 1748 and 1767, devastating the cities of northern India and attaching the
5
Robert C. Hallissey, The Rajput Rebellion Against Aurangzeb - A Study of the Mughal Empire in the Seventeenth
Century India (London: University of Missouri Press, 1977), [Page 40-46].
6
S.R. Sharma, Mughal Empire in India - A Systematic Study including Source Material (Agra, India: Lakshmi Narain
Agarwal, 1934), [Page 571-574].
7
James Grant Duff, Esq., A History of the Mahrattas (London: A & R Spottiswoode, 1826), 2: [Page 5-11].
8
The 7th Guru, Arjan Dev was martyred for offering sanctuary to a son of Jahangir who had rebelled against his father.
The 9th Guru, Tegh Bahadur was martyred for his friendship with Dara Shikoh, Aurangzebs brother during a civil war
between them over Shah Jahans throne. Aurangzeb was also outraged that Muslims had been converting to Sikhism.
9
Guru Gobind Singh was assassinated by Pathans in 1708, but as he lay dying, he told his followers not to appoint a new
Guru but rely upon the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib for spiritual guidance from then on.
10
Syed Sami Ahmad, The End of Muslim Rule in India. (Karachi, Pakistan: Tru-Prints, 1997), [Page 3-4].

2
Punjab and Kashmir to his empire.11 When the Marathas attempted to drive him out, they were

trounced at Panipat in 1761. The Afghans persecuted the Sikhs viciously wherever they found them;
12
Ahmad Shah, eager to demoralize their proud warriors, demolished their holiest shrine, the Golden

Temple in Amritsar and desecrated its sacred pool with the carcasses of dead cows.13 These affronts

however merely galvanized the Sikhs to resist and following his death in 1772, Sikh war-bands

retook much of the Punjab.

Here, they gradually coalesced into twelve misls,14 independent polities units which vied for

power and territory (Refer to Appendix: Map 2). By 1760, the rulers of Sukerchakia established

control over the doab15 of the Ravi and Chenab rivers. In 1799, its 19-year old misldar, Ranjit

Singh16 captured Lahore, the biggest city of the Punjab and quickly brought the rest of the misls

under his rule. With the acquisition of Amritsar in 1801, Ranjit Singh also claimed the religious

legitimacy he needed to be crowned Maharaja.

Ranjit Singh then extended his control over neighbouring Jammu, which was ruled by the

Hindu Dogras. This campaign brought into his service, the Dogra brothers: Dhyan Singh, Gulab

Singh and Suchet Singh. Impressed with their leadership and martial prowess, the Maharaja granted

them jagirs17 and hired them to his court.18 Possessing shrewd political acumen, the brothers soon

11
Thomas Barfield, Afghanistan A Cultural and Political History. (Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2010), [Page
99-100].
12
Ganda Singh, Ahmad Shah Durrani - Father of Modern Afghanistan (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1959), [Page
281-282].
13
Henry T. Prinsep, comp., Origin of the Sikh Power in the Punjab and the Political Life of Muha-Raja Runjeet
Singh (Calcutta: Military Orphan Press, 1834), [Page 25].
14
The Misls, from the Persian word for similar or alike were twelve sovereign Sikh states in the Punjab that formed
a confederacy. They were not all of equal strength and although their rulers, the misldars feuded amongst themselves,
they obeyed a single legislature, the Sarbat Khalsa, where foreign policy and religious matters were decided.
15
Doab is a term to refer to land situated between two rivers, i.e. between the various rivers which form the Punjab.
16
Ranjit Singh Sukerchakia was the son of Maha Singh and grandson of Charat Singh who won Gujranwala for the
Sukerchakia misl. In his childhood, Ranjit Singh was afflicted with smallpox; though he recovered, he was left blind in
one eye and pockmarked. Nonetheless, he grew up to be a fierce warrior and skillful horseman, able to command the
allegiance of his men.
17
A jagir was a parcel of land or a village granted by a feudal overlord to his vassals in return for services. The vassals
could thus draw their income from the revenues of the land.

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gained the confidence of the Maharaja, accruing much wealth and influence in the Lahore Durbar.19

In 1822, Ranjit Singh anointed Gulab Singh as Raja of Jammu20 while Dhyan Singh was appointed

his Wazir (Prime Minister) in 1828. Dhyan Singhs young son, Hira Singh in particular, was a

favourite of the Maharaja and was also appointed to important positions at court despite his tender

age.21

First Encounters with the British

The emergence of the Sikhs as powerful force was greeted with alarm by the Company. In

1757,22 the British acquired the province of Bengal and its enormous agricultural revenues, granting

them their first major foothold on the subcontinent. Over the rest of the century, the Company

expanded its holdings on the subcontinent, defeating regional potentates like Tipu Sultan of

Mysore23 and the Maratha Confederacy of the Deccan. Those rulers not defeated by force of arms,

they played off each other, through shrewd diplomatic manoeuvring; many rulers, fearing

abandonment by their Mughal overlords, sought British protection.24 Even the Mughals, who tried to

reassert their hegemony under Shah Alam II, were forced under British protection after being

defeated at Buxar in 1764.25 At the ascent of Ranjit Singh in 1801, virtually all of India was under

direct British control or ruled by pliant Indian princes. Furthermore, through their control of ports

18
Bawa Satinder Singh, The Jammu Fox - A Biography of Maharaja Gulab Singh of Kashmir (Carbondale, IL: Southern
Illinois University Press, 1974), [Page 6-7].
19
The British referred to Ranjit Singhs state as the Lahore state and his court the Lahore Durbar, whose opulence and
luxury was a throwback to the heady days of the court of the Great Mughals at Agra.
20
The post of Raja in this situation was one similar to governor. Gulab Singh was expected to provide tax revenues and
manpower to Ranjit Singh when required but otherwise could govern the territory as he saw fit.
21
Singh, The Jammu Fox, [Page 10]. Hira Singh was rumoured to be an object of sexual affection for Ranjit Singh.
22
The Nawab of Bengal and his French allies were defeated at Plassey by Robert Clive of the East India Company. This
marked the first major loss of Indian territory to the British.
23
Tipu Sultan, nicknamed the Tiger of Mysore was the Sultan of the southern state of Mysore. His close relations with
the French alarmed Britain; citing his expansionist ambitions against smaller states under their protection, Britain
initiated four wars against Mysore. After initial reverses, the British defeated him at Seringapatnam in 1799, where he
was killed in battle.
24
H.S. Bhatia, ed., Mahrattas, Sikhs and Southern Sultans of India and their Fight against Foreign Power (New Delhi:
Deep & Deep Publications Pvt. Ltd., 2001), [Page 164-167].
25
G.S. Cheema, The Forgotten Mughals, A History of the Later Emperors of the House of Babur (1707-1857) (New
Delhi, India: Manohar Publishers and Distributors, 2002), [Page 343-344].

4
and trade routes, the Company effectively dominated the Indian economy and began a methodical

process of exploiting Indias wealth for its own ends.26

With their territories abutting several still-independent Sikh chiefdoms, collectively referred

to as the Cis-Sutlej States (Refer to Appendix: Map 3), the British, ensconced not far from the

Punjab at Delhi saw it as imperative to reach some kind of entente with the Maharaja. Back in

Europe, the upstart Napoleon Bonaparte had restored French power after the chaos of the

Revolution, crowned himself Emperor and embarked on a one-man mission to subjugate Europe. In

1807, Napoleon and Tsar Alexander signed the Treaty of Tilsit, which created an alliance between

their empires and led to an embargo on British trade with Europe via the Continental System. 27

Company officials in Calcutta were gripped by paranoia over the possibility of a joint Franco-

Russian invasion of Persia and Afghanistan that would culminate in invasion of British India. So as

to pre-empt that outcome, in 1808, they sent embassies to Kabul as well as to Ranjit Singh in

Lahore, to seek common ground for a defensive alliance.28

Negotiations between the Sikhs and the British had begun in 1803 when there were attempts

by both powers to demarcate a clear border between their territories. Ranjit Singh initially suggested

the Sutlej persist as the natural border even though it meant he essentially conceded Patiala,

Ludhiana, etc., to the British sphere. 29 British inaction in reifying these claims however, allowed

Ranjit Singh to continue probing south of the Sutlej. It was Tilsit that finally impelled serious British

efforts to cajole the Sikhs into a defensive arrangement should the French execute their plan. Charles

Metcalfe was sent to Lahore in 1808 to convey the gravity of the French threat30 to Ranjit Singh

26
Ian St John, The Making of the Raj - India under the East India Company (Oxford: Praeger, 2012),[Page 35-36].
27
The Continental System was a French-led effort to cripple Britains efforts against French dominance of Europe by
severing its ability to trade with any European state. Russia had held out due to its profitable lumber trade with Britain
but at Tilsit, the two emperors agreed to work together to place an embargo on British trade.
28
Olaf Caroe, The Pathans - 550B.C. - A.D. 1957. (London: St Martin's Press, 1958), [Page 275].
29
Patwant Singh and Jyoti M. Rai, Empire of the Sikhs (London: Peter Owen Publishers, 2008), [Page 104].
30
Ibid, [Page 105].

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and to convince him to abide by earlier promises to respect the Sutlej boundary. The Maharaja was a

tough negotiator and though he promised to help if France invaded, but he refused to cease his

activities in the Cis-Sutlej states. To drive home this point, the Sikhs swiftly subjugated Faridkot,

shaking the Phoolkian chiefs31 confidence in the British commitments to protect them should he

concertedly attack them. 32

In March 1808, the chieftains of Patiala, Nabha and Ambala adopted the Cis-Sutlej

Resolution. In it, they acknowledged their predicament: being squeezed between two big ambitious

powers. However while they deemed the British advance would be protracted like Tap-e-diq

(tuberculosis), they feared Ranjit Singhs ambition more, like Sarsam (delirium), which finishes

victims within hours.33 In the end, they chose British protection to Lahores chagrin. With the

French still lingering at the back of their minds however, the British knew they could not afford to

alienate the powerful Maharaja and reconciled with him, agreeing the Sutlej Treaty (1809) where

perpetual friendship between their two states was guaranteed. In return the Sikhs undertook not to

militarize their side of the Sutlej34 more than necessary for internal duties while permanently

conceding the Cis-Sutlej to Britain. For the duration of Ranjit Singhs reign, he honoured his

commitment to this treaty.

In assessing the payoff to Ranjit Singh from the treaty, despite the fact he had little

experience in complex negotiations the British were masters at, the Maharaja proved adroit at

assessing his own limits and not reach for overly-ambitious goals. His main goals were to extend

31
The Phoolkian were a clan related to Ranjit Singhs mother but there existed much bad blood between the chiefs and
the Maharaja over his supposedly disrespectful treatment of their interests at the court in earlier times. They ruled the
towns of the Cis-Sutlej like Patiala, Ambala, etc.
32
Singh and Rai, Empire of the Sikhs, [Page 105-107].
33
Amarinder Singh, The Last Sunset - The Rise & Fall of the Lahore Durbar, Lotus Collection (New Delhi: Roli Books,
2010), [Page 18].
34
The Treaty with Lahore of 1809 Treaty between the British Government and the Raja of Lahore, April 25, 1809, in
Amarinder Singh, The Last Sunset - The Rise & Fall of the Lahore Durbar, Lotus Collection (New Delhi: Roli Books,
2010), [Page 264-265].

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Sikh control to the north and west against their perennial bugbears, the Afghans. The treaty ensured

Britain would look the other way while he did so.35 Even Metcalfe, who had negotiated hard for the

British side, acknowledged the Sikhs gain, remarking how the Maharaja would reap the fruits of

the (treaty) in a period of twenty years.36 This he did, much sooner.

The Old Enemy Sikh versus Afghan

In the period following the Afghan invasions of India, the strength of the Durranis had begun

to wane. Zaman Shah presided over a diminution of Afghan power in the Punjab as the Sikhs

concomitantly grew in power.37 In his efforts to shore up his power base, he alienated important

clans by favouring his own Sadozais in positions of power;38 in 1800, Zaman Shah was overthrown

and replaced by his half-brother Mahmud Shah. He too failed to retain his support base and in 1803,

Shah Shuja, yet another brother, ruled in Kabul. When Mahmud Shah returned to power in 1809,

Shah Shuja fled to Peshawar to rally support amongst the Barakzai clans. Here he was captured, and

subsequently imprisoned in Kashmir by its unsympathetic Afghan governor.

Into this chaotic milieu stepped Ranjit Singh. He desired both the verdant province of

Kashmir and the person of Shah Shuja, who he saw as useful for his own geopolitical objectives.39

On a raid into Kashmir in 1813, Ranjit Singh freed Shah Shuja, whose grateful wife presented him

with the Koh-i-Noor diamond. 40 To forestall an Afghan counter-attack, the Maharaja occupied

35
Amarinder Singh, The Last Sunset - The Rise & Fall of the Lahore Durbar, Lotus Collection (New Delhi: Roli Books,
2010), [Page 110-111].
36
Henry T. Prinsep, comp., Origin of the Sikh Power in the Punjab and the Political Life of Muha-Raja Runjeet Singh
(Calcutta: Military Orphan Press, 1834), [Page 74].
37
H.H. Dodwell, ed., British India, 3rd ed., vol. 5, The Cambridge History of India (New Delhi: S. Chand & Co.,
1968), [Page 484-486].
38
Meredith L. Runion, The History of Afghanistan (London: Greenwood Press, 2007), [Page 72-74].
39
Olaf Caroe, The Pathans - 550B.C. - A.D. 1957. (London: St Martin's Press, 1958), [Page 289].
40
The Koh-i-Noor diamond is the most priceless diamond in the world and possessing it was a source of great prestige to
various rulers of India. Its value was said at the time to be enough to feed all the people of the world for three days.
Likely found in the Golconda diamond mines of southern India, the gem passed from local Hindu rulers to the Delhi
Sultans, the Mughals and then to Nadir Shah. Ahmad Shah Durrani acquired it, before Shah Shuja surrendered it to
Ranjit Singh. The Sikh ruler wore it on his person but following the demise of the Sikh Empire, his son, Dalip Singh was
forced to relinquish it to Queen Victoria. The gem now adorns Queen Elizabeth IIs crown.

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Attock, situated strategically at the confluence of the Indus and Kabul rivers and then in 1818,

captured Multan. The fall of the city was a huge blow to Afghan pride;41 besides being the final

bastion of Afghan power in the Punjab, Ahmad Shahs favourite cannon, the enormous Zam-Zama42

(see Appendix: Images) housed there, was also Ranjit Singhs trophy. In 1819, Kashmir was taken;

the provinces revenue from the lucrative trade in fine woollen shawls a welcome addition to the

imperial treasury. 43 In 1834, Ladakh was annexed by the Maharajas protg, Gulab Singh, granting

the Sikhs control of the source of the fine pashmina wool used in Kashmirs textile industry as well

as the caravan route into Central Asia. 44

The last area of primary concern to the Sikhs were the territories on the far side of the Indus.

Inhabited by Pathans, Baluch, Waziris and tribes who harboured a fierce hatred of infidel Hindus

and Sikhs, its subjugation was vital to the long-term security of the Punjab. It was not until 1834

however that Peshawar, the regions main city was finally conquered by Hari Singh Nalwa,45 and

added to the empire for good. The Afghans rallied one last under Dost Mohammads call for a

jihad,46 to recover Peshawar; at Jamrud, they were thwarted, though the Sikh commander, Hari

Singh Nalwa was killed in battle. Nevertheless, this border between India and Afghanistan

established by the Sikhs endured, being finally reified by Britain via the Durand Line in 1893.

41
Patwant Singh and Jyoti M. Rai, Empire of the Sikhs (London: Peter Owen Publishers, 2008), [Page 115].
42
The huge cannon had been used by Ahmad Shah Durrani to great effect against the Marathas at Panipat.
43
Khushwant Singh, Ranjit Singh: Maharaja of the Punjab (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1962),[Page 134]. The
revenue of Kashmir from the trade in shawls with Russia and Persia was estimated at 7 million rupees.
44
John Keay, India: A History (New York: Grove Press, 2000), [Page 420-421].
45
Hari Singh Nalwa(17911837) was the Sikhs best general. He was a commoner who rose to great station through his
service to the Lahore court. He was appointed to administer Kashmir when the Sikhs took it in 1819.
46
Kartal Singh Duggal, Maharaja Ranjit Singh - The Last to Lay Arms (New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, 2001),[Page
95].

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The Question of Sind

Following Ranjit Singhs conquest of Kashmir and Multan, a gradual shift in British policy

towards the Sikh state began. Over the early 1800s, Britains strategic and commercial interests in

the coastal province of Sind had grown substantially and they began to fear the Sikhs would contest

the province as well, despite the Maharajas thus far strict abidance to the 1809 treaty. Some

hawkish Company officials like Metcalfe however were increasingly fretful over the Sikhs rapid

expansion and pushed for aggressive British deployments across the Sutlej to curtail them. Likewise,

at the Lahore Durbar, many Sikh sardars, buoyed by their recent military successes, were irritated

by the Maharajas passivity in the face of increasing British interference in Sind. When they begged

him to annex Sind, he dryly reminded them of what happened to the Marathas, whose vast armies

had been humbled by the British and their empire destroyed by foolhardy ventures.47 He knew that

despite possessing a formidable army, he could never hope to challenge the British; they, if needed,

could commandeer a virtually unlimited stream of military resources from across their empire and

additionally cripple his economy by strangling shipping and trade. Here, we see the divergence in

the fundamental geopolitical goals of Ranjit Singh and the Company. A consummate realist, he

knew he could never conquer India; other hand, this was the underlying principle guiding British

policy towards the subcontinent for at least fifty years prior.48

Amid growing tensions, the Governor-General William Bentinck decided to meet the

Maharaja to resolve outstanding issues and gain full clarity on his intentions. The British proposed

an Indus Waters Navigation Treaty in December 1832, guaranteeing free navigation on the Indus

for all shipping and equitable duties on river commerce, averting any potential for disputes over

47
V.V. Joshi, Clash of Three Empires - A Study of British Conquest of India with special reference to the Maratha
people (Allahabad: Kitabistan, 1941), [Page 186-193]. The Marathas like the Mughals had failed to modernize their
armies and adopt tactics that enhanced their own strengths against a foreign enemy like the British. Thus, despite their
vastly superior numbers, they repeatedly met with defeat at the hands of the British, who despite a small corps of
European soldiers, relied on Indian sepoy mercenaries to fight in most of these battles.
48
Patwant Singh and Jyoti M. Rai, Empire of the Sikhs (London: Peter Owen Publishers, 2008), [Page 104].

9
trade revenues. 49 Though he accepted, Ranjit Singh remained suspicious of their intentions in Sind;

when he wrote to Calcutta for clarity, he was told curtly that 1809 Treaty regulated only Sikh

actions, not the Companys. This blatant hypocrisy embarrassed even officials like Lord Auckland,

the incoming governor-general, who in a confidential letter in 1836, he confessed,

Runjeet Singh has some cause of complaint of us for interfering with him on this side of the Indus.
Our treaty with him fixed the Sutlege as the boundary to his ambition on our side...As long as it
suited out purpose, we maintained that the treaty made the Sutlege, when it became merged in the
Indus, the bar to Runjeet Singhs power on this side... Are we at liberty to put one construction of
treaty at one time and another at another when it suits our convenience? If not, we can hardly say
that we have any right to interfere between Runjeet Singh and Sind.50

Ranjit Singh knew how the British did things, but he was wise enough to know, that for all his

martial prowess, he could never challenge them over it.

The Maharajas Personal Life

Ranjit Singh died in June 1839 at the age of fifty-eight. Though a Sikh, he had created a state

that was unique for its time in its secular nature. He hired talented Hindus, Muslims and even

Christian Europeans51 to serve at his court and train his army, and honoured all their religious

traditions equally. 52 Though he was a tough warrior, he was remarkably merciful to defeated rulers,

reinstating them as long as they promised to be loyal; capital punishment, even for serious crimes,

was unknown in his kingdom.53 As Sir Henry Lawrence, the British Resident later stationed in

Lahore noted,

49
P.E. Roberts, History of British India under the Company and the Crown, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1952), [Page 326].
50
Bikrama Jit Hasrat, Anglo-Sikh Relations, 1799-1849: A Reappraisal of the Rise and Fall of the Sikhs, (Hoshiarpur,
India: V.V. Research Institute Book Agency, 1968), [Page 364].
51
S.P. Singh and Harish Sharma, eds., Europeans and Maharaja Ranjit Singh (Amritsar: Guru Nanak Dev University,
2001), [Page 43-49]. Ranjit Singh sought talented individuals wherever he could find them. These included amongst
others, the Frenchman, Jean-Francois Allard and the Italians, Jean-Baptiste Ventura and Paolo Avitabile, who helped
modernize and organize the Sikh army. Johann Honigberger from Romania served as his personal physician and the
American, Colonel Alexander Gardner who commanded the artillery corps.
52
S.P. Singh and J.S. Sabar, eds., Rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh; Nature and Relevance (Amritsar: Guru Nanak Dev
University, 2001), [Page 37].
53
Roshan Lal Ahuja, Dr., Maharaja Ranjit Singh (New Delhi: Sanjay Printers, 1983), [Page 63]. The most severe
punishments were the amputations of noses or ears.

10
Members of deposed ruling families may be seen in Delhi and Kabul in a state of penury but in the
Punjab there is not to be seen a single ruling house whose territories, conquered by Ranjit Singh,
have been left unprovided by him. With all his rapacity, the Maharaja was not cruel or bloodthirsty;
after the capture of a fortress, he treated the vanquished with leniency and kindness, however stout
their resistance might have been.54

By the end of his reign, Ranjit Singh had restored peace and prosperity to a region that had known

only ceaseless violence for a century and created a powerful state that stood as the last obstacle to

British supremacy in India. Thus the scale of the grief expressed by nobles and commoners alike at

the old Maharajas passing was astounding, something the foreigners at his court repeatedly

emphasized in their writings.55

Ranjit Singh personal habits however, were much less salubrious. These merit some

discussion since they greatly influenced how his court was perceived by foreign eyes and invariably

influenced the British stance towards the Sikh Empire after his death. Of the Maharajas appearance,

wrote Charles von Hgel, 56

He is short and mean-looking, and had he not distinguished himself by his great talents he would
be passed by without being thought worthy of observation. Without exaggeration I must call him the
most ugly and unprepossessing man I saw throughout the Punjab. His left eye which is quite closed,
disfigures him less than the other, which is always rolling about wide open and is much distorted by
disease. The scars of his face form many dark pits on his greyish-brown skin...his head is too large
for his height and his long white beard gives him a more venerable appearance than his actual age.
His costume always contributes to increase his ugliness...but as soon as he mounts his horse, his
whole form seemed animated by the spirit within, and assumes a certain grace of which nobody
could believe it susceptible. In spite of the paralysis affecting one side, he manages his horse with
the utmost ease.57

The Maharajas fondness for horses meant he went to extraordinary lengths to acquire fine

specimens. In 1831, the British, desiring to obtain intelligence on the navigability of the Indus as a

54
Henry M.L. Lawrence, Adventures of An Officer in Punjab, Vol. 1 (Patiala, India: Reprint Press 1970), [Page 30-31].
55
J.M. Honigberger, Thirty Five Years in the East, (London: H. Bailiere 1852), [Page 103-104]. Honigberger was a
Romanian physician who served Ranjit Singh in the period before the Maharajas death.
56
Charles von Hgel (1795-1870) was an Austrian nobleman, army officer, diplomat and explorer who visited northern
India in the 1830s. After fighting in the last wars against Napoleon Bonaparte, he travelled widely and was intrigued
most by Kashmir and the Punjab where he met Ranjit Singh and wrote extensively on the history, society and geography
of Kashmir. These appear in his travelogue, Kaschmir und das Reich der Siek(Cashmere and the Realm of the Sikh)
57
William Wilson Hunter, Sir, ed., Ranjit Singh, Rulers of India (New York: Oxford University Press, 1892), [Page 89].

11
conduit for trade, used this weakness as an opportunity. 58 On the pretext of presenting the Maharaja

with a gift of English horses, they obtained permission to sail up the Indus to Lahore and managed to

survey it surreptitiously.

The other great love of Ranjit Singh was women and he had a large harem, marrying women

of Sikh, Hindu and Muslim faith, despite the opposition of the conservative Akali Takht, the Sikh

religious establishment (who opposed Sikhs marrying Muslims). 59 Consequently, intrigues and

power struggles developed in the harem with his queens jostling to place their respective offspring

first in line for the succession and conniving courtiers feting various princes in hope of advancing

their own careers.60

Adding to the disapproval of his religious preceptors and physicians, the Maharaja consumed

large amounts of alcohol to which he added crushed pearl, musk and other questionable substances, 61

badly damaging his fragile health. 62 After a mild stroke in 1831, he also took to smoking opium. In

1838, he suffered more strokes that paralyzed the right side of his body, confining him to his bed

until his death a year later.

Sunset on the Lahore Durbar

Ranjit Singh was succeeded by his eldest son, Kharak Singh in 1839. Weak-willed, he was a

hopeless opium addict and beholden to his court favourite, the knavish Chet Singh. Chet Singh

foolishly tried to use his influence over the Maharaja to dislodge the Dogras63 whose connections at

court were as strong as ever. Angered, they spread rumours the Maharaja was plotting to accept

58
Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game - The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia (Tokyo: Kodansha International,
1992), [Page 132-135].
59
William Wilson Hunter, Sir, ed., Ranjit Singh, Rulers of India (New York: Oxford University Press, 1892), [Page 60].
60
Ibid, [Page 104-109].
61
He was rumored to add laudanum, cannabis and other drugs to give his drinks more fire.
62
Khushwant Singh, Ranjit Singh: Maharaja of the Punjab (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1962),[Page 214].
63
Bawa Satinder Singh, The Jammu Fox - A Biography of Maharaja Gulab Singh of Kashmir (Carbondale, IL: Southern
Illinois University Press, 1974), [Page 40].

12
British protection and disband the army. 64 Gulab Singh then thoroughly convinced the Crown

Prince, Nau Nihal Singh that his father had gone mad and was plotting the downfall of the kingdom.

The Dogras then killed Chet Singh, imprisoned the hapless Kharak Singh and crowned Nau Nihal

Singh Maharaja. The deposed Maharaja later poisoned to forestall his return to power.65

Nau Nihal Singh was now cultivated as the Dogras pawn while they continued to milk the

fruits of courtly privilege. Just a few months into his reign however, the Maharaja was injured by

falling masonry from an archway and subsequently died from his wounds. 66 With no clear choice for

the throne, the wily Wazir, Dhyan Singh now played court factions off each other. To hedge his bets,

Dhyan Singh informed the Dowager, Chand Kaur67 as well as another of Ranjit Singhs surviving

sons, Sher Singh68 that he would support their respective bids to be the next ruler. When Sher Singh,

appeared at Lahore to claim his throne, Chand Kaur panicked and shut the city gates to his forces. A

siege ensued, with Gulab Singh, as the Wazirs secret agent in the Maharanis coterie, negotiating a

settlement with Sher Singh. Finally, conceding her position as hopeless, Chand Kaur69 surrendered

the throne to Sher Singh.

Sher Singhs reign was plagued by turmoil from the start. The Sandhanwalia clan contested

his right to rule while simultaneously the army was becoming increasingly ill-disciplined70 in its

64
Bawa Satinder Singh, The Jammu Fox - A Biography of Maharaja Gulab Singh of Kashmir (Carbondale, IL: Southern
Illinois University Press, 1974), [Page 41].
65
Hugh Pearse, Major, ed., Soldier and Traveller - Memoirs of Alexander Gardner (Edinburgh: William Blackwood and
Sons, 1898), [Page 222].
66
Ibid, [Page 224-226]. Gardner indicates that the circumstances of the Maharajas death were suspicious due to his
observation of the treatability of the wound. Nonetheless, the citizens of Lahore took his death as divine punishment for
his treatment of his father.
67
Chand Kaur was from the Sandhanwalia clan, fierce rivals of the Dogras. They controlled the army and could remove
Dogra influence at court if they wished.
68
Sher Singh had been initially passed over for the succession since there was a widely-held rumor that he was
illegitimate, conceived when Ranjit Singh was away from home. However, Ranjit Singh had still employed his talents as
a general in numerous campaigns so he had remained a visible, if inconsequential figure in court politics.
69
Seen as a threat to their control, Dhyan Singh had Chand Kaur murdered by her own maids. They crushed her head
with a rock as they groomed her.
70
Amarinder Singh, The Last Sunset - The Rise & Fall of the Lahore Durbar, Lotus Collection (New Delhi: Roli Books,
2010), [Page 55-57].

13
idleness. In an effort to butter-up the Khalsa,71 Sher Singh raised soldiers salaries and allowed them

to freely enlist their relatives in large numbers as well!72Amidst this trend to lawlessness, the soldiers

resorted to a panchayat system for collective decision-making, in the manner of a village council,

disregarding entirely the command hierarchy and only accepting officer command for leadership in

battle; all decisions were made by council elections.

Sher Singh, as former general under Ranjit Singh should have halted this development but as

Amarinder Singh points out, due to swirling allegations of him being a bastard and hence

illegitimate, he constantly felt insecure. He was also partial to indolence and pleasure, and left

matters of government in the hands of the Wazir. The Sandhanwalias now decided to strike back; in

September 1843, they assassinated both the Maharaja and Wazir Dhyan Singh. With no other viable

claimants, five-year old Dalip Singh, youngest son of Ranjit Singh was crowned Maharaja, with his

mother Maharani Jindan as Regent and Dhyan Singhs son, Hira Singh the new Wazir. 73

When Hira Singh himself was assassinated in 1844, the Maharani was left isolated and

vulnerable against the increasingly belligerent Khalsa.74 In desperation, she turned to two nefarious

characters: Lal Singh, her lover,75 whom she appointed Wazir, and Tej Singh, an incompetant

courtier, who was given command of the army. Facing a complete loss of control over the Khalsa,

the Durbar decided on a radical course of action. Alexander Gardner76 described its solution as

throwing the snake into the enemys bosom. The Khalsa, according to him was evilly-disposed,

71
The Khalsa was the military brotherhood of Sikhs established by Guru Gobind Singh to protect the Sikh people. It
came to later refer to the army of the Punjab.
72
Pearse, Soldier and Traveller, [Page 230]. They did this to exploit the increased pay, but were nothing more than
brigands, according to Gardner.
73
Europeans at court describe Hira Singh as a poor copy of his father and a lapdog of Ranjit Singh, who was heavily
dependent on his tutors for advice. When Hira Singh tried to dictate to the Khalsa, it dispensed of him.
74
Hugh Cook, The Sikh Wars - The British Army in the Punjab 1845-1849 (London: Leo Cooper, 1975),[Page 22].
75
Bawa Satinder Singh, The Jammu Fox - A Biography of Maharaja Gulab Singh of Kashmir (Carbondale, IL: Southern
Illinois University Press, 1974), [Page 107].
76
Colonel Alexander Gardner (1785-1877) was an American soldier-of-fortune who found his way to the Lahore Durbar
and entered into the service of Ranjit Singh as an artillery commander. He wrote his memoirs, detailing the fall of the
Sikh kingdom and discussed the various persons concerned. After the 1st Anglo-Sikh War he served Gulab Singh in
Kashmir till his death.

14
violent yet a powerful and splendid army;77 it was to be hurled against the British and thus

destroyed. The Maharani hypothesized that if, as expected, the army was defeated, the British would

restore the court to dominance with Dalip Singh under its protection. On the other hand, if the army

somehow triumphed, then her kingdom could potentially be aggrandized by vast new territory up to

the gates of Delhi. 78 In December 1945, the Khalsa under the command of Tej Singh crossed the

Sutlej, initiating hostilities with Britain.

The British Have Enough

Though restrained in Ranjit Singhs lifetime, after his death the British set in motion a well-

honed strategy to rapidly undermine the cohesion of the Punjab: liaising with individuals of

questionable loyalty and fomenting rivalry amongst its various factions. Broader geopolitical events

also played a role. The utility of the Punjab as a bulwark against the French had diminished since the

defeat of Napoleon in 1815. The threat from Persia also faded after their failed siege of Herat in

1838. And though British efforts to prop up Shah Shuja as their puppet in Kabul faltered,79 the

Afghans were too preoccupied by domestic troubles to foment trouble beyond the Khyber Pass. 80

With the fall of Sind to Britain in 184381 the Sikh state now represented the last piece in the jigsaw

to complete British domination of the subcontinent.82

The opportunity to advance this objective manifested in the instability at Lahore and

jingoistic, anti-British slant of the Khalsa. In 1844, Henry Hardinge was appointed Governor-

77
Hugh Pearse, Major, ed., Soldier and Traveller - Memoirs of Alexander Gardner (Edinburgh: William Blackwood and
Sons, 1898), [Page 261-62].
78
Hugh Cook, The Sikh Wars - The British Army in the Punjab 1845-1849 (London: Leo Cooper, 1975), [Page 23].
79
British efforts to support Shah Shuja as ruler in Afghanistan against his rival Dost Mohammad Khan were partly due
to Dost Mohammads unwillingness to commit fully to the British and his continued dabbling with the Russians.
Ellenborough thus sanctioned an invasion of Afghanistan. Though Shah Shuja was reinstalled, opposition to the British
presence saw the expulsion and massacre of the British troops and their families. Shah Shuja was overthrown and killed
in 1842, and Dost Mohammad, who had been exiled to India was permitted to return.
80
Patwant Singh and Jyoti M. Rai, Empire of the Sikhs (London: Peter Owen Publishers, 2008), [Page 228].
81
Lawrence James, Raj - The Making and Unmaking of British India (New York: St Martin's Griffin, 1997),[Page 103].
82
Penderel Moon, Sir, The British Conquest and Dominion of India, 2nd ed. (London: Duckworth Press, 1990), [Page
576-579].

15
General of India. A veteran of the Peninsula Wars against Napoleon, Hardinge was known to be

steady and courageous. His early writings indicate some hesitation on going to war with the Sikhs. 83

The assassination of Hira Singh however, finally convinced him of the Punjab States inability to

redeem itself from its own malaise.84 In January 1845, he wrote,

If we cant bolster up this Sikh state, the government of which is carried on by a drunken
prostitute her councillors- her paramours, the only other alternative is (British) occupation... The
treasury has in it, we hear, not more than two months pay... When these means are at an end most of
the army will become plunderers and robbers and if we are to arrive at this result I confess I would
prefer an abatement of the nuisance at one blow whilst it is an army, rather than be compelled at a
later period to have to put it down in the shape of a Pindaree warfare. 85

While preparing for war, he also corresponded with Gulab Singh, who promised to keep his Dogra

troops aloof from the fighting and to attack the Sikhs if the war went badly for the British.86

The last general of any note from the government of Ranjit Singh still alive, Gulab Singh had

withdrawn to Jammu, taking with him the treasure he had quietly looted from Lahores coffers

amidst the chaos of Sher Singhs reign. Now, he served as the primary turncoat for the British even

as he continuously assured the Durbar of his genuine intentions. Gulab Singh realized by now the

mutinous Khalsa was beyond redemption and saw working with the British as an opportunity to

extract some concessions. He had begun entertaining delusions of creating a viable successor state in

the mountains of Kashmir,87 even displaying appetite for expansion when he authorized an invasion

of Tibet in1841. 88

83
Penderel Moon, Sir, The British Conquest and Dominion of India, 2nd ed. (London: Duckworth Press, 1990), [Page
594].
84
Ibid, [Page 595].
85
Bawa Satinder Singh, The Jammu Fox - A Biography of Maharaja Gulab Singh of Kashmir (Carbondale, IL: Southern
Illinois University Press, 1974), [Page 100]. The Pindaris were marauding war-bands that proliferated in central India
after the British defeat of the Marathas in the 2nd Anglo-Maratha War(1803-1805). The suppression of these bandits led
to the third and final Anglo-Maratha War (1817-1818) that saw the dissolution of the Maratha state for good.
86
Hugh Pearse, Major, ed., Soldier and Traveller - Memoirs of Alexander Gardner (Edinburgh: William Blackwood and
Sons, 1898), [Page 268-269].
87
K.M. Panikkar, The Founding of the Kashmir State - A Biography of Maharaja Gulab Singh (1792-1958), 2nd ed.
(London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1953), [Page 76-77].
88
The attack on Tibet saw the Dogras forces defeat the Tibetans before combined Sino-Tibetan reinforcements drove
them back to Ladakh. Zorawar Singh fell in battle but the Dogras, back on familiar territory crushed the invading

16
 The British army was commanded by the experienced Sir Hugh Gough, like Hardinge, a

veteran of the Napoleonic Wars as well as campaigns in China and in the Deccan against the

Marathas. The 1st Anglo-Sikh War opened with the Battle of Mudki (December 1845) where the

British laboured to victory against courageous Sikhs. The battle revealed that despite the reputed

degeneration of the Khalsa, once in battle, they were still formidable. Fuelled by their hatred of the

British, the Sikhs were ruthless and their artillerymen, trained well in Western techniques of warfare,

caused heavy casualties amongst Goughs men. This trend did not improve at Ferozeshah (December

1845), but now British inveigling at the Durbar bore fruit. With the British at their mercy, Tej Singh

interpreted Goughs attempt to withdraw as a flanking manoeuvre, and withdrew to safety, allowing

the wearied British to escape being massacred.89 In subsequent battles at Aliwal (January) and

Sobraon (February), the Sikhs lost as their critical advantage in artillery as successive defeats saw

most of their cannons fall into British hands.90 At Sobraon, Tej Singh, who was now secretly

corresponding with Hardinge, was informed of a surprise British attack at dawn. Fleeing his camp,

he destroyed the bridge over the Sutlej, leaving his men trapped between the British and the river. In

the ensuing battle, 10,000 Sikhs were cut to pieces; Britain and the Company had won the war.91

A Temporary Peace

The victorious British delegation was received in person by the young Maharaja Dalip

Singh.92 All British terms were unconditionally accepted by the Durbar. In the Treaty of Lahore, the

Jalandar Doab, was ceded to Britain (Refer to Appendix: Map 4), 15 million rupees in reparation

was imposed and Lahore was occupied by the British. The Khalsa was also reduced to a third of its

Chinese army in Ladakh. The incident was concluded amicably by the Treaty of Chushul which confirmed the status quo
ante bellum.
89
Amarpal S. Sidhu, The First Anglo-Sikh War (London: Amberley, 2010), [Page 82-84].
90
Ibid, [Page 125].
91
Ibid, [Page 162].
92
Despite his utilization of insiders to gain advantage in battle, Hardinge seems to have been clearly ashamed of this
dishonorable means to gain victory. His first act upon taking Lahore was to make an offering at the samadh(memorial) of
Ranjit Singh.

17
former strength, all artillery pieces were confiscated and the Durbar was forbidden from hiring

Europeans advisors.93

Faced with a depleted treasury (mainly due to the overpaying of soldiers) the Durbar was

unable to furnish the reparations.94 In lieu of payment, the British were ceded the whole province of

Kashmir. Hardinge knew however, that governing it was beyond the Companys present capability

and instead granted it to Gulab Singh via the Treaty of Amritsar for seven and half million rupees, 95

paid for ironically with the same money he had pilfered from Lahores treasury. Now finally

independent of the Sikhs, the Dogra dynasty governed Kashmir till 1947.

The British also later imposed via the Treaty of Bhyrowal, the right to post a British Resident

in Lahore with complete authority to oversee the running of the state.96After a year, the Maharani

refused to endure such diminution of her powers and reputedly schemed to have the Resident

murdered; when this came to light, she was exiled to Varanasi. 97 This particular move however was

seen by the populace as unpardonable British meddling in their country - such disgraceful treatment

of the Maharajas mother and coupled with simmering disgruntlement amongst local sardars over

onerous British interference in their affairs finally erupted in revolt.98

93
First Treaty with Lahore of 1846 Treaty between the British Government and the State of Lahore, 9 March, 1846,
in Amarinder Singh, The Last Sunset - The Rise & Fall of the Lahore Durbar, Lotus Collection (New Delhi: Roli Books,
2010), [Page 282-298].
94
The Koh-i-Noor Diamond was also expropriated along with much of Ranjit Singhs jewels to be presented to Queen
Victoria.
95
Treaty between the British government and Maharajah Gholab Singh, Concluded at Amritsar 16 March 1846, in
Amarinder Singh, The Last Sunset - The Rise & Fall of the Lahore Durbar, Lotus Collection (New Delhi: Roli Books,
2010), [Page 298-299].
96
Second Treaty with Lahore of 1846(Also known as the Treaty of Bhyrowal) 22 December 1846, in Amarinder
Singh, The Last Sunset - The Rise & Fall of the Lahore Durbar, Lotus Collection (New Delhi: Roli Books, 2010), [Page
300-303].
97
The resourceful Rani Jindan was not done however. Dressed as a maid, she escaped British custody for Nepal where
the Rana rulers granted her asylum. Nepal was also increasingly under British influence and she was prohibited from
travelling from her home. She was finally granted the chance to see her son, Dalip Singh again in 1860 and she travelled
with him to Britain, dying there in 1863.
98
Patwant Singh and Jyoti M. Rai, Empire of the Sikhs (London: Peter Owen Publishers, 2008), [Page 255].

18
 In April 1848, the governor of Multan rebelled and murdered British officials stationed in his

city.99 Soldiers who had been left without work after the Khalsas dimunition, seized by this spirit of

rebellion, rallied to his cause. Lord Dalhousie, now Governor-General, was driven to bellicosity by

this development, announcing that,

Regards to the preservation of power...it compels us to declare war, and to prosecute it to the
entire submission of the Sikh Dynasty. The Government of India has without hesitation resolved that
the Punjab can no longer be allowed to exist as a power and must be destroyed. Unwarned by
precedents, uninfluenced by example, the Sikh nation has called for war, and on my word they shall
have it and with a vengeance! 100

Surprisingly, under a veteran sardar of the First Anglo-Sikh War, Sher Singh Attariwalla, the

rebels initially defeated Goughs forces at Chillianwala (January 1849).101 Without further support

from the now prostrate Lahore Durbar however, the rebels failed to foment more revolts elsewhere

and were subsequently crushed at Gujrat a month later, thereby ending the 2nd Anglo-Sikh War. 102

By now, Dalhousie was in no mood for compromise. A fervent imperialist, Dalhousie had

been strident in his criticism of the treaty arrangements after the first war. He had little respect for

the Sikhs and the Durbar, and he desired nothing more than to finish them off as a political entity for

good. Dalhousie also refused to retain Dalip Singh as the Punjabs titular ruler. As John Spencer

Login, the British-appointed guardian of the Maharaja recounts,

Dalhousie had little sympathy for the boy who was supposedly his protg and who had now been
relieved of his throne and his fortune. He did not see why a person who he had earlier referred to as
a child notoriously surreptitious, a brat begotten of a Bhisti,103 and no more a son of old Runjit
Singh than Queen Victoria, should be treated with more than cursory justice. 104

99
Alan J. Guy, R.N.W. Thomas, and Gerard J. DeGroot, eds., Military Miscellany I - Manuscripts from the Seven Years
War, the First and Second Sikh Wars and the First World War (London: Sutton Publishing Limited, 1996), [Page 72].
100
Amarinder Singh, The Last Sunset - The Rise & Fall of the Lahore Durbar, Lotus Collection (New Delhi: Roli Books,
2010), [Page 230].
101
J.H. Lawrence-Archer, Capt., Commentaries on the Punjab Campaign 1848-49 (London: Wm. H. Allen & Co.,
1878), [Page 48-53].
102
Ian Hernon, Blood in the Sand - More Forgotten Wars of the 19th Century (London: Sutton Publishing, 2001), [Page
116-120].
103
A woman of a low caste; a referance to the ancestry of Dalip Singhs mother. The Maharani was the daughter of the
keeper of the Ranjit Singhs hunting dogs. Dalhousie also considered Maharani Jindan a harlot and thus Dalip Singhs
ancestry doubtful.
104
Singh, The Last Sunset, [Page 239].

19
 Dalhousie stripped the Maharaja of all his titles and lands; provided with a pension of 1.2

million rupees, the boy was exiled to Britain, far away from his homeland, to forestall any loyalists

rallying around the son of the beloved Ranjit Singh. The Punjab was absorbed into British India;

Dalhousies dream of turning India red was achieved.105

Conclusions

The rise of the Sikh Empire was so swift that historians often likened Ranjit Singh to a

Napoleon in miniature, no small part due to his remarkable martial prowess and charismatic

leadership. However, this association does not fully capture the complexity of his personality. Ranjit

Singh was cautious more often than reckless and avoided antagonizing enemies he was not sure he

could defeat.106 He moulded the brave but impetuous Sikhs through iron discipline into a formidable

fighting force since he knew the army could be the only guarantor of Sikh independence against foes

lurking on all sides. Yet, even as he was ruthless in battle, he governed his multi-ethnic, multi-

religious subjects equitably and effectively.

His successors lacked his foresight and his bravery; pandering to noisome forces, they

resorting to scheming to entrench their positions, all failing miserably.107 The Dogras, particularly

Gulab Singh, though loyal to the Maharaja during his lifetime, upon his death, seized the opportunity

for self-aggrandizement. Finally, the institution of the Khalsa, the prime defender of the state, once

free of Ranjit Singhs restraints, ran wild and brought about its own ignominious demise. Britain saw

in Ranjit Singh a reasonable interlocutor, who bore the costs of taming the Afghans; by reducing

them to impotency, he served British interests. When these interests were replaced by an

uncompromising imperialist ambition in the 1840s however, the Sikh Empire was doomed.
105
Dalhousie had been irked constantly by the fact that the map of India still included the Punjab which was not yet
red(under Britain). His speeches and writings constantly mention his desire to rectify this.
106
S.P. Singh and J.S. Sabar, eds., Rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh; Nature and Relevance (Amritsar: Guru Nanak Dev
University, 2001), [Page 75-76].
107
Patwant Singh and Jyoti M. Rai, Empire of the Sikhs (London: Peter Owen Publishers, 2008), [Page 225].

20
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22
 Appendix
Images and Tables

Maharaja Ranjit Singh

Maharaja Dalip Singh

Colonel Alexander Gardner

Maharaja Kharak Singh
Hari Singh Nalwa

Maharaja Nau Nihal Singh The Zam-Zama cannon of

Ahmad Shah Durrani
Maharani Jindan

Maharaja Sher Singh

Raja Gulab Singh

23
Lord Auckland The Marquess Dalhousie
Henry Hardinge

Lord Ellenborough Sir Hugh Gough Charles Metcalfe

24
List of Sikh Gurus, with dates of Guruship
1.Nanak Dev (1507-1539)
2.Angad Dev (1539-1552)
3.Amar Das (1552-1574) Governors-General of the British East India
4.Ram Das (1574-1581) Company
5.Arjan Dev (1581-1606) Warren Hastings (1773-1785)
6.Har Gobind (1606-1644) Charles Cornwallis (1786-1793)
7.Har Rai (1644-1661) John Shore (1793-1798)
8.Har Krishan (1661-1664) Richard Wellesley (1798-1805)
9.Tegh Bahadur (1665-1675) George Barlow (1805-1807)
10.Gobind Singh (1675-1708) Lord Minto (1807-1813)
Marquess of Hastings (1813-1823)
Lord Amherst (1823-1828)
Rulers of the Sikhs, 18th -19th centuries William Bentinck (1828-1835)
Banda Singh Bahadur (1710-1716) Lord Auckland (1836-1842)
Nawab Kapur Singh (1733-1735) Lord Ellenborough (1842-1844)
Jassa Singh Ahluwalia (1762-1783) Henry Hardinge (1844-1848)
Ranjit Singh (Maharaja of the Sikh Empire) (1801-1839) Marquess Dalhousie (1848-1856)
Kharak Singh (1839) Charles Canning (1856-1858)
Nau Nihal Singh (1839-1840)
Sher Singh (1841-1843)
Dalip Singh (1843-1849)

Rulers of Afghanistan of the 18th -19th centuries

Ahmad Shah Durrani (1747-1772)
Timur Shah (1772-1793)
Zaman Shah (1793-1801)
Mahmud Shah (1801-1803)
Shuja Shah (1803-1809)
Mahmud Shah (2nd reign) (1809-1818)
Sultan Ali Shah (1818-1819)
Ayub Shah (1819-1823)
Dost Mohammad Khan (1823-1839)
Shuja Shah(2nd reign) (1839-1842)
Akbar Khan Barakzai (1842-1845)
Dost Mohammad Khan(2nd reign) (1845-1863)
Sher Ali Khan (1863-1865)

Mughal Emperors of the 18th 19th centuries

Aurangzeb (1658-1707)
Bahadur Shah I (1707-1712)
Jahandar Shah (1712-1713)
Farukhshiyar (1713-1719)
Muhammad Shah (1719-1748)
Ahmad Shah Bahadur (1748-1754)
Alamgir II (1754-1759)
Shah Jahan II (1759)
Shah Alam II (1759-1806)
Akbar Shah (1806-1837)
Bahadur Shah II (1837-1857)

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 Map 1

The Empire of the Great Mughals, Expansion and Decline, A.D. 1526-1707

Produced by Navin Kumar, adapted from "Mughal South Asia," map, in An Atlas and Survey of South Asian History, illus.
Karl J. Schmidt (London: M.E. Sharpe Inc., 1995), [Page 53].

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 Map 2

Sikh Misls of the Punjab in the Late Eighteenth Century

Produced by Navin Kumar, adapted from "Sikh Misls of the Punjab in the Late Eighteenth
Century." Map. In Empire of the Sikhs - The Life and Times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, by
Patwant Singh and Jyoti M. Rai, (London: Peter Owen Publishers, 2008), [Page 53].

27
 Map 3
The Sikh Empire of Ranjit Singh, 1839

Produced by Navin Kumar, adapted from "The Territories in the Kingdom of Maharajah Ranjit Singh." Map. In Empire of
the Sikhs - The Life and Times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, by Patwant Singh and Jyoti M. Rai, (London: Peter Owen
Publishers, 2008), [Page 61].

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 Map 4
The Dismantling of the Sikh Empire in the 1840s

Produced by Navin Kumar, adapted from "The Dismantling of the Sikh Empire in the 1840s."
Map. In Empire of the Sikhs - The Life and Times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, by Patwant Singh
and Jyoti M. Rai, (London: Peter Owen Publishers, 2008),[Page 250].

29